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Review: Samsung NX20

The Samsung NX20 is the company’s new compact system camera taking on the rest of the world.

This camera, with it’s mirrorless system and interchangeable lenses manages to pack some serious push with such a compact body.

With WiFi-upload, GPS and the now standard Clear AMOLED display it has obviously been built for the serious enthusiast in mind and is certainly a camera for the techy inside all of us.

When you first get the NX20 hand, the first thing I noticed was just how easy it is to use.The new Samsung iFn system makes shooting so easy and simple anyone can get great shots. iFn is essentially a shortcut button to ISO, EV, White Balance and iZoom you’re then able to scroll through them and adjust using the focus ring.

iFn is an amazing user interface system, and something that is almost a must have on a camera that is designed to ease those into using professional level cameras.

One of its more great features of the Samsung NX20 is the Wi-Fi dial option on the top of the camera, switch it into Wi-Fi mode and you’re given the option of uploading to SkyDrive, sending to a compatible smartphone or emailing straight from the camera. Not mucking round having to find the right cords anymore!

One the main features of the NX20 has to be the large adjustable Clear AMOLED display. Taken from Samsung’s smartphones, it’s obvious why the Samsung has started to include the technology into the cameras. Long gone the days of the small screen which you can’t see what you’ve shot. I wish my professional camera had a screen this nice! One grizzle, is that the screen caught every reflection possible though, whilst not a major issue, made it a big irritating at times.

The NX20 comes with a 20.3-megapixel APS-C sensor able to produce professional-grade images despite the smaller stature of the camera.

One of my major gripes with any camera is how the sensor performs in testing conditions. Thankfully, the NX20 was able to perform extremely well. Low light shooting is always hard, but the NX20 produced some very impressive results, even more so when you place the camera into auto-exposure mode.

With the 1/8000s shutter system, even extremely fast moving shots are a doddle.

Full 1080p HD video is extremely simple and while the NX20 isn’t quite able to play with the big boys of the SLRs market it truly does to a great job for it’s size and price. The video mode is a great feature that will be more than adequate for the amateur enthusiast.

The Samsung NX20 carries a bit of a price tag. At $1,349 RRP it’s not a cheap camera, and especially at it’s not a ‘proper’ SLR. This price goes up very quickly if you want to start investing in other lenses, and as with any SLR camera. The kit lens is ok, but you will want to upgrade.

For the price though, what you get though is a seriously good example of a camera that is perfect for someone wanting a little more control, and a little more technical ability as a stepping stone into the SLR market. It’s a nice non-threatening step into what can be, and what is generally always is a scary world of SLR cameras.